How to Keep Your Rockstars Loving Their Job

Your employees are an investment for your company, so next time you’re worried about your best team members jumping ship, it’s time to get creative.

Here are four ways you can keep your rockstars under your roof and working hard for your company.

Give financial incentive to stick around.Financial incentives extend beyond the salary you negotiate with your rockstar team. There’s more to keeping your employees financially incented to stay with your company.One way that has worked well for many companies is a signing bonus. To work, the bonus must be substantial. It must be a sum of money that makes a difference in your employee’s life. If your employee leaves within the first year, they have to pay it back. For many employees, that’s painful. It keeps your employees sticking around and makes them mentally committed to staying with your business for at least a year.As a business, this makes a lot of sense. Hiring rockstars is no easy feat. It’s also expensive. Paying up front to keep your top talent in your business for the next foreseeable 12 months sets the tone early on that they are wanted, respected, and valued. Ultimately that is what will keep your rockstars sticking around.

Encourage individual creativity.The Internet is constantly changing. To stay ahead and innovate, your business needs individuals to let their creative flag fly. Encouraging your team to pursue their ideas is many times profitable and it keeps your rockstar employees invested in your company.Your employees want to feel as if they have they have a voice in the company. Empower your business and your team by encouraging individuality. By having a platform to share new ideas, your employees feel more engaged and accountable for your company’s growth. That type of engagement keeps rockstars around for the long-haul.

Shake up the performance review.Performance reviews put employees under the spotlight. The experience is uncomfortable – even when it turns out positive. To shake things up, why not offer a two-way review so your employee has the opportunity to review your company and performance too.This does two things.First, it opens the door to having a conversation about how to make your business a better place. When your employee feels like there is an opportunity to express ideas and concerns, instead of constantly being under the gun, she feels more at ease.Second, it encourages your employee to become more invested in your business. As your new team member feels empowered to express herself, she will also feel a certain amount of accountability. If something isn’t quite right, she has the power to change it. She is invested in making your company a better workplace, which makes her more likely to stick around past her one-year anniversary.

Start office traditions.Some weeks, you spend more time with your colleagues than your family. When all of your time is spent talking about work, things get boring and demotivating. Honor your work family with office traditions.Many companies have cultivated a more positive work environment by simply introducing a workplace tradition. For example, host a Thanksgiving lunch each year where employees can let their hair down and indulge in some delicious food together. If you live in a cold area, have one day each summer where you break free from the confines of the office and go soak up some sun. There are plenty of fun traditions you start to get your team pumped about working for you.

Invest in your employees. Show them that you care about their personal needs and want to see them sticking around for the long-haul. When you show them that you are interested in their happiness, you are more likely to keep your top talent showing up and performing their best.